The Jester
by punk-lord
Summary: Harley Quinn is betrayed by the Joker one last time. It just so happens to be when a new villain seeking a new henchwoman comes to town.
1. Chapter 1

**The Jester**

**Chapter 1**

Glass shattered. A car had driven straight through the large display window of a jewelry store. It was around 2 in the afternoon, in broad daylight. When the car piled through, one person was hit and instantly killed, a couple others injured. The person driving the car never got a scratch, he just laughed with his head waving through the air. The person in the passenger seat hit her head as the car made an impact. Everything got blurry. There was a ringing in her ears. She could hardly see or hear as he screamed for her to get out of the car and hurry up.

Finally, the sound returned. Her vision got better. She heard, yelling in her ear, "Harley, come on, you idiot!"

She realized that she was hanging out of the passenger door as bullets fired back and forth from inside the building, out into the street. Police officers were firing in, and a certain, out of his mind madman was firing back at them.

A burlap bag laid at Harley's feet and a pistol in her hand. The madman she was accompanying yelled, "Harley, put the jewels in the bag!"

"Y-Yes, Mr. J," she gulped as she crawled under the gunfire and began filling the bag with diamonds and jewels.

Then, darkness swooped in. Harley looked back to see her boss had been apprehended in mere seconds by the towering, ominous Dark Knight known as the Batman. Harley nearly screamed, but thanked heavens when she noticed that Batman had not spotted her. She ditched the bag and hid behind one of the counters.

She closed her eyes, but could hear Batman scream, "Joker! Where is Quinn?"

The Joker replied with a giggle, "Quinn? Oh, whoever do you mean?"

Harley smiled. She had feared the Joker would sell her out in a heart beat, just to avoid a couple extra punches. Then, she could hear Batman choke the Joker a little more. He must've been holding him by the throat.

The Joker blurted out with a choke, "She's back there, getting the diamonds!"

Harley's heart dropped. It would be a matter of seconds. Right about now, Batman was throwing the Joker aside as the police pointed their guns at him, giving him pointless threats. Then, Batman would march over to the counter she was hiding behind. Sure, Harley could stay quiet and go with Batman without a fight, avoiding harm completely. But, should she?

She ran out of time to think. Batman stood over her, encasing her in his shadow. With a sigh, Harley stood to her feet and Batman led her back over to the police. She never spoke a word.

* * *

Harley and the Joker both sat in the back of an armored truck as it drove through the streets of Gotham, escorted by many police cars. Two SWAT members sat in here with them. Harley sat with her legs crossed, staring sadly at the other end of the truck. The Joker, though, was tossing and turning, entertaining himself by making faces at the police officers.

He turned to Harley and said, "What's the matter, kiddo?"

She didn't say anything.

"Harley," the Joker frowned, scooting closer to her on the bench. "Are you mad at me for some reason?"

"You sold me out," Harley looked at him slowly.

The Joker frowned for a moment. Then, he smiled and shrugged, "Yeah, but whatcha gonna do? It's a crappy world, eh?" He looked at one of the officers. "Hey, by the way, where we headin'?" He burst out laughing.

"Mr. J," Harley looked at him, "Why would you sell me out like that? I would never do that to you."

"Harley," he said, clearing his throat, "It's a dog-eat-dog world. Besides, I couldn't go back to Arkham all by myself! I'd need company!"

"You're going to get solitary confinement," Harley rolled her eyes. "You always do."

"But at least we'll be in the same building!" the Joker smiled. "We'll be together forever!"

One officer interrupted, "Hey, would you two shut the hell up? I don't want to hear about your relationship problems!"

Joker was about to retaliate with a rude gesture, but Harley said to the Joker, "What if we were both tied up and somebody had a gun to us. He said he'd either shoot you in the toe, or me in the head. And, he let you choose. Which would you choose?"

"Harley," the Joker smiled, stroking her face, "Why do you worry about such silly things?"

"My life is silly to you?" Harley raised her eyebrows. "You know, Mr. J, I used to wonder if the whole _Joker _bit was a big act you were putting on, or if it was real. Now, I know." She crossed her arms. "It's all just a big game to you. Will you please answer my question? Me, or your toe?"

"Harley, you know I care about you," the Joker sighed. "But . . . but . . ." he shook his head with a frown, "If I lost my toe, how could I ever wear sandals again?"

Harley's mouth dropped open. She looked at the officers and said, "Are you hearing this?"

The Joker continued, "And you can't expect me to wear tennis shoes to the beach! What kind of weirdo does that?"

Harley snapped, "What kind of weirdo puts on make-up and robs banks and jewelry stores for a living?!"

The Joker sunk down into his seat, not expecting her outburst. Once she finally calmed, he shrugged with a big smile, "Me?"

Before Harley could say anything, everyone in the truck was thrown forward after a giant explosion. The entire front end of the truck was blown off, letting the sun shine in. The two officers were knocked unconscious as several of the Joker's henchmen rushed in and helped Joker and Harley Quinn out of the truck. They took their cuffs off.

The Joker said, straightening his tie, "It's about time, boys."

"Come on, Joker," one henchmen called for him, "We got a car for you!"

The Joker grabbed Harley's hand and they followed the henchmen as they all got in the car, with Joker and Harley in the backseats, and drove away from the wreckage, taking back alley roads, trying to avoid the police.

The Joker sighed of relief, "How did you creeps manage to do that?"

"A little C4 can go a long way," the henchman proudly said.

The Joker looked over to see that Harley had her arms crossed, looking out the window. He said to her, "Harley, ol' gal," he put his arm around her shoulders, "Remember that little outburst you had on me?"

She looked at him oddly and slowly said, "Um . . . yes . . ."

"Well," he grinned, "I didn't like it."

The Joker then kicked Harley, pushing her out of the car right as they were passing a brick building, causing her to slam into it hard and quickly be left behind by the car. The Joker reached over and closed the car door as he cleared his throat.

The two henchmen in the front seat of the car nervously looked at each other, then kept their eyes in front of them as they drove the Joker back to their hideout . . . without Harley Quinn.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Jester**

**Chapter 2**

Harley's eyes shot open as thunder rang out and rain fell down. She looked up to see that it had gotten dark as she laid in that cold alley. She limped towards a canopy that hung above a door. The rain washed all of her face paint off as she finally collapsed under the canopy, breathing hard. She ripped off her head piece and threw it in a puddle as she sat up against a wall, looking around, trying to collect herself and remember what had happened. The Joker had betrayed her again, that's what happened.

Harley felt cold. She felt alone.

Then, she heard something. It was laughter. A shadow moved quickly by a flickering light on the other end of the alley. She heard more laughter. Laughter usually meant the Joker. But, this was different. She knew the Joker's laugh, and this wasn't it. This was someone else.

She peered down the alley, studying any movement she saw. Then, she was taken by surprise as someone said, "Want my jacket?"

Harley, startled, turned and looked to the side. Leaning up against the wall, right under the canopy with her, was a man dressed in a yellow and green jester's outfit, quite similar to Harley's, only less feminine. He also wore a brown trench coat over it all.

"Who are you?" Harley asked nervously.

"Better question," the jester slid down next to Harley, a grin on his face. "Who are _you?_"

Harley had never seen _this_ wack-job before, so she was guessing he was new to the whole crime business - if he was into crime - and possibly new to Gotham. He probably didnt know who the big villains were. So, why not make him think that _she_ was one of them?

"I'm Harley Quinn," she proudly stated, sticking out her hand to shake his, trying to sound confident. When he was about to shake it, she jerked it away with a smirk, making the jester laugh. "And what do I call you? The Jester?"

"How'd you guess?" he smiled.

"You new to Gotham, or something?" Harley raised an eyebrow. "I've never seen you around before."

"So, just because _you've_ never seen me around, means I must be new?" the Jester acted like he was insulted, but did it in a sarcastic manner, only teasing Harley.

"Yup!" Harley cheerfully replied. "You could say that I'm one of Gotham's leading exports of money, jewels, diamonds, et cetera."

The Jester stared blankly for a moment and muttered, "What?"

Harley rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "I'm a super villain."

"Villain?" the Jester nodded along, rubbing his chin. "What makes you think that I'm a villain too?"

"The outfit," she shrugged. "What kind of wacko wears an outfit like _that_ and isn't clinically insane?"

"I do believe you're wearing a similar outift," he tugged on her sleeve.

"Yeah, but _I'm_ insane," Harley said, almost proudly, "I even got the papers to prove it!"

The Jester laughed and said, "I like you. What did you say your name was again?"

The biggest smile formed on Harley's face. The Jester had said _"I like you." _The Joker never even said that to her. Harley then noticed she was staring, lost in thought. The Jester waved his hand in front of her face.

She was knocked from her trance and giggled, "Harley Quinn's the name."

"Harley Quinn," the Jester repeated. "You know, it almost sounds like . . . nevermind, I'm sure you've heard it before."

Harley's mouth dropped open. Her heart jumped. She nodded with a quite dumb-looking smile, "Yes, yes, I _have_ heard it before."

"Hence the costume," the Jester smiled. "I guess everyone's gotta have a theme. I hear there's some guy who does riddles. And another guy with two faces and a double-sided coin or something? And then there's you . . . and me. We're like the clowns, I suppose."

"Clowns," Harley repeated. She shook it off and said, "Where are you from?"

"Oh, just a little place outside of Metropolis," he shrugged as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around Harley's shoulders, causing her to blush. "So, Harley Quinn," he said, "Since I'm new and everything, maybe you could give me the _tour_ of the city?"

"Sure!" Harley nodded happily. "But, um, hey listen. Remember when I said only the clinically insane dress up like us?"

"Yes."

"Well, there's this one lunatic who you have to be _very_ careful about," she looked around cautiously, always fearing the Batman may be near. "They call him Batman. He's like a freakin' psycho!"

"Batman?" the Jester smirked. "That's the best he could come up with?"

"He's no laughing matter," Harley shook her head nervously. "I'm serious. He's foiled puddin's plans so many times that - "

"Puddin'?"

Harley began to sweat, though you couldn't tell from the rain water running down her face. She gulped, "Err, he's ruined my plans so many times that I'm about rip my hair out."

"Why did you say puddin'?" the Jester looked at her oddly. "What does that mean? Pudding?"

"I love pudding, why don't we go get some at the store?" Harley tried to change the subject, not wanting to talk about the Joker, or even mention him to the Jester.

The Jester ignored her for now, already aware that she was somewhat ditzy and silly, but he found it cute. He said, "So, is Harley Quinn your real name?"

"It's Harleen Quinzel, actually," Harley's eyes lit up.

"That's beautiful," the Jester seemed sincere. "Harleen Quinzel. It's beautiful."

Harley smiled, "Thank you. What about you? What's your real name?"

"Oh, I can't tell you that," the Jester smiled, picking at his fingernails.

Harley frowned and whined, "Why not? I told you my real name!"

"Because, Harley Quinn," the Jester looked at her and grinned, "You have to save _something_ for the second date."

Harley looked at him confused and grunted, "Huh?"

Lightning struck, blinding the entire alley way for a split second. And in that split second, the Jester had disappeared. The only thing that remained of him was the jacket still around Harley's shoulders.

She muttered to herself, "He may actually make it in _this _town with clever little bits like that."

She stood up and put the jacket on properly. She adjusted it and put her hand in the pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. It was a note and written on it was: _Keep the jacket _

Harley seemed to melt when she read it. But, after a thunder clap, she decided it was best to get out of the storm. She pulled the collar up on the jacket to try to block some rain and block her identity. She closed the jacket so nobody could see her villainess uniform and began walking out of the alley as she said, "I think I'll stop by the store first. I'm dying for some pudding right about now."


End file.
